


Never Say Goodbye

by slytherin394



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, High School, High School Reunion, Human Castiel, M/M, School Reunion, this is an AU where castiel was never an angel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 17:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7942195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherin394/pseuds/slytherin394
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean Winchester attends a high school reunion, hoping to run into Castiel Novak.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Say Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is loosely based off of never say goodbye by bon jovi. sam and dean are still hunters, but castiel is human and has always been human. just thought i'd clarify. also i'm supposed to be writing a novel, but i'm procrastinating (again), so i apologize if this sucks.

Dean looked at his inbox and saw an email from yet another high school, letting him know that his 10 year reunion was just around the corner. He’d have deleted it, if it weren’t for the fact that this high school…it was the one with the best memories.

When dad was alive, they’d moved around so much. Hunt after hunt led them all over the continental US.

At Thunderbird High School in Wichita, Kansas was where the Winchesters found themselves for about 6 months. Dean was a senior and Sam was a freshman at the time. The moment John had finished the hunt in Wichita, there’d been another one that popped up in the neighboring city. It was only a salt n’ burn, so it shouldn’t have taken very long. He left the boys to their own devices for what was only supposed to last a week, but that week turned into months and Sam and Dean hoped they could stay there forever.

For Sam, it was because of the academics. He’d wanted to go to Stanford for the longest time and was hell bent on getting the best grades in his class.

For Dean, it was because of a boy named Castiel.

Castiel wasn’t popular, like Dean so instantly was. No, Castiel was a smart kid, a sassy kid. He made Dean laugh with his under-his-breath snide comments about their teachers. He was in the chess club, like Sam, and had stellar grades. He’d lived in Wichita his whole life, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about moving after high school.

Castiel, too, had an absent father, and Dean supposed that’s one thing they both could relate to. Dean had Castiel as a tutor when they first met. Dean was struggling in math and science, so their teacher paired them up. Since Dean didn’t really picture himself going to college, unlike Sam, he was ready to refuse the suggestion of a tutor.

It’d been after the school day ended and he was talking to Ms. Tasou about his reluctance and “plans for the future,” which, really, was just a bunch of bullshit. But when Castiel walked in the door with his textbooks and overstuffed backpack, Dean instantly changed his mind.

And boy, was he glad he did.

When Dean’s math and science grades had gone up, much to Ms. Tasou’s satisfaction, he’d no longer needed a tutor. Nevertheless, Dean and Castiel still talked to each other and soon enough became something more.

Dean recalled the memory of when he asked Cas to senior prom. It had been behind the gym after school, with Sam keeping look out just in case John showed up.

Dean bought a bouquet of red roses—he hadn’t known if it was something guys did or not, but he did it anyway—and he’d came walking around the corner, surprising Cas. Dean explained to Cas that he liked his privacy and that was why he preferred not to ask Cas to prom in front of their whole school like others did.

Castiel said yes.

Prom night was an adventure in and of itself. Their dinner got mixed up with another table’s and they’d arrived late to the dance. The DJ had constant technical difficulties, so most of the songs were choppy and cut off in the middle of a chorus. It wasn’t until the strobe lights started smoking that they ushered everyone out of the gym.

It was far from perfect, but Dean and Cas enjoyed it all the same.

That night, after the dance, Cas and Dean made love in the backseat of Castiel’s Lincoln Continental. It wasn’t ideal for their first time, what with the leather seats sticking to their sweaty skin, the lack of space and comfort, and the multiple times dean had hit his head on the roof of the car.

It was the start of something beautiful, Castiel had thought. He was in love with Dean, even more so after prom night.

What Castiel didn’t know was that being a hunter caused all sorts of unpredictable events.

It was the first week of May when John finally came back. They left almost immediately. Dean couldn’t exactly tell John that he had to go say goodbye to his boyfriend, so, much to Dean’s disappointment, they’d hit the road without as much as a second glance.

 

 

For the past ten years, Castiel Novak hadn’t stopped wondering why Dean left. It was like he’d dropped everything and moved on, which was basically what he did, save for the moving on part. Cas had been heartbroken, bitter, and angry ever since that day Dean failed to show up to school. What kind of kid switched schools three weeks before graduation?

His friends tried to get Castiel together with a friend, but to no avail. They weren’t sure when Castiel would get over this one boy that was long gone—and had been long gone for so many years—but when he did, pigs would fly.

Castiel decided he’d go to his high school reunion. He hoped Dean would show up, but he doubted it. If he hadn’t shown up by now, there’s almost no chance he’d come to the reunion.

But Cas would go anyway. He wanted to see his old friends. Maybe it’d be fun.

 

 

“Sammy, I’m heading down to Wichita for a coupl’a days,” said Dean as he leaned against the door frame of Sam’s bedroom.

“Okay….Why?” asked Sam.

“You remember Thunderbird High School? Well, there’s a reunion and—”

“Seriously? We get those invites all the time and we never go. Why do you wanna go to this one?” Sam looked up from his laptop.

Dean was quiet for a moment, thinking.

“There’s something I have to do.”

When Sam realized Dean wasn’t going to elaborate, he nodded and said, “Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

Dean rolled his eyes and walked over to the bunker’s garage.

 

 

Dean wasn’t sure what to wear for a high school reunion. Was it casual? He hoped it was. After all he didn’t really own anything other than jeans, t-shirts, and flannel.

The sun was setting as Dean parked Baby in the student parking lot. He looked around him as the other alumni made their way to the gym where the reunion was being held. He didn’t exactly graduate from here, but he hoped he’d be able to get in. After all, he wasn’t here for the refreshments.

For the first hour, Dean sat down at one of the tables and faced the door, eyes scanning for a familiar face. It was eight o’clock when he finally gave up. He made his way to the doors, turning around and looking at everyone mingling one last time before he walked away—right into someone.

“Oh, sorry, I—” Dean looked up to see who he’d bumped into and almost stopped breathing.

 _Blue eyes_.

Dean _knew_ those blue eyes.

Castiel Novak didn’t even look at Dean, just mumbled a quiet “’S fine” before walking past him.

 _Coming to this reunion was a mistake_ , thought Castiel. Doing so only brought back the memories he’d tried so hard to forget.

Dean had just up and left him with no explanation. They didn’t exchange numbers since Dean didn’t have his own phone, so there was no way for Castiel to reach him. And they were so in love, too. Cas was sure it wasn’t something he did that made Dean leave. After all, his little brother left too. It was like they’d vanished off the face of the earth.

But life went on. Cas never really forgot about Dean, the handsome boy with the bright green eyes and constellation of freckles dusting his cheeks.

Dean grabbed Castiel’s arm and said, incredulously, “Cas? Castiel?”

Castiel turned around. He, too, knew Dean just by his eyes. Cas thought seeing him would make everything better, but he was wrong.

It only made Cas angry.

Cas yanked his arm back and stalked out of the gym in heartbreak and anger, but mostly anger—anger that had been buried so deep for so long and now that it’d come to the surface he couldn’t let it go.

Dean followed him out of the gym and into the student parking lot where that same Lincoln Continental was parked.

When Castiel was in the process of unlocking his car, Dean stopped him by putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Castiel turned around violently.

“What do you want?” he demanded. “What do you want after all these years?” Cas was seething with anger; he felt his face getting red with the vicious heat of it. Luckily, everyone was inside the gym reconnecting with old friends and not in the parking lot to witness the wrath that was Castiel Novak. “I thought if you came to this stupid reunion, I’d be happy about it, but I’m _not_!”

“Please, Cas, I can explain—”

“NO. You don’t get to call me ‘Cas’ when you _left_! You _left_ after we—after we—I can’t _believe_ you, Dean Winchester. I let myself fall in _love_ with you—only for you to leave. Goddammit, Dean—”

“I can explain. I swear I can. I never meant to leave—I never wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to stay here—with you.”

Castiel didn’t know what to say. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the Lincoln, very pointedly looking anywhere but Dean.

“Are you going to let me explain?” asked Dean timidly.

“Denny’s. You’re buying. Follow my car.”

Without another word, Cas got in his own car and started the engine. Dean scrambled to get in his, and they made their way to the nearest Denny’s.

 

 

As they ate their food, Dean and Cas were silent. Cas, waiting for Dean to explain himself. Dean, thinking of how to word it.

Worried that Cas would bolt any second now, Dean decided to speak up, pushing his half eaten plate away.

He started explaining the fake family business story. You know, the one where his dad was a mechanic and he had to carry on after him. Just as he was getting to the middle of it, Cas sensed something was wrong. Dean wasn’t telling the truth.

As if Dean could sense that Cas could sense that he wasn’t telling the truth, Dean paused mid-sentence.

“This isn’t gonna work,” he mumbled, mostly to himself. “Come on, let’s go.” Dean got out of the booth and put two twenties down before making his way out the door. Castiel followed, though he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t have to. He could go home right now and call it a night. But his curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to know why Dean left even if it broke his heart all over again.

Dean insisted that Cas get in the impala so they could talk privately. Cas was visibly worried and held his hand on the door handle just in case he needed to run.

Dean wanted to get this over with. Explaining to a non-hunter that monsters were real and that he was the kind of person who kills them never went well. They either believed you or they didn’t. There was no in between.

It took about an hour and a half to get Castiel to even _consider_ believing what Dean was saying. Listening to Dean recount horror stories of vengeful spirits and werewolves, Castiel wasn’t sure what to believe. Dean huffed and got out of his car, gesturing for Cas to follow.

They stood in front of Dean’s trunk, the top propped open.

Dean looked at the devil’s trap that was painted on the inside. It looked like it needed an extra coat of paint. He blamed Crowley.

Castiel looked in awe at all the weapons and other contraptions that were in the trunk before him. There were several knives and guns, machetes and wooden stakes. Clear bottles with a crosses on them—holy water.

“You’re crazy,” said Cas, looking at Dean, who laughed and closed the trunk.

Dean leaned back against the back of Baby and looked up at the night sky.

“I never wanted to leave,” he confessed. “But I had no choice. When dad said we had to move, we didn’t get no say in it.”

Cas stayed silent.

“You know, I loved you, too, Cas,” Dean admitted, shyly. _And I still love you_. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.” Dean shook his head.

“I feel like I’m crazy for believing you, but I do anyway. I think. I still wanna see these ‘monsters’ for myself, though.”

Castiel smiled up at Dean like he was seeing him for the first time—and perhaps he was. The real Dean. The Dean that wasn’t going anywhere. _His_ Dean.

 

 

“I’m glad you decided to visit, Cas,” Dean commented as he led Castiel through the bunker doors and down the stairs.

The drive to Lebanon from Wichita had been boring, as Dean and Castiel each took their own cars. Cas refused to leave his precious Lincoln behind, even if it was just for a week.

“Well, grad school doesn’t start until October. And it’s online, too, so I can still get my Masters from the University of Richmond without leaving home,” replied Cas.

Dean smiled. He could see how happy going to grad school made Cas. He was proud of him for it, too. There was no way in heaven or hell that Dean could do something like that.

“This place is huge. I can’t believe you live here.” Castiel craned his head back and looked around, taking it all in.

Dean gave Cas a tour of the bunker and showed him to his temporary room. When Sam came back from a grocery run, Castiel didn’t even recognize him.

Dean re-introduced them and Sam started telling Cas about the Men of Letters. While they caught up, Dean got started on dinner for the three of them.

 

 

That night, Sam slept soundly as usual, but Dean couldn’t. Getting out of bed, Dean made his way to the kitchen. He noticed the light was on, and he remembered having turned it off. Dean sighed.

“Sammy, go to sleep,” he mumbled. “You’re going to burn your eyes out with so much damn reading—”

Dean paused when he saw that it was not Sam who was in the kitchen, but Castiel, holding a half empty glass of water.

“Oh. Couldn’t—uh—couldn’t sleep either?”

“No,” replied Castiel.

Dean poured himself a glass of water as well and sat down across from Cas. When their silence was broken, it was when Cas spoke.

“I spent years heartbroken over you.” The sudden change in the air, the palpable vulnerability, made Dean nervous. “I thought you didn’t want me anymore. After prom night I—I thought I’d done something wrong or—”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know that now, but for so long, I’d thought—I’d thought that. Believed it.”

“Prom night was probably the best night of my life,” said Dean honestly.

A small smile began to form on Castiel’s face.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’d like to relive that again, sometime. If you want.”

Cas’s face reddened, unable to form any coherent response. He _wanted_ Dean, sure, but he also wanted _Dean_.

Standing up, Dean made his way over to Castiel’s side of the table and kissed the top of his head lovingly.

“’Night, Cas.”

With his glass of water still full, Dean walked back to his room for the night, leaving Cas flustered and happy.

 

 

For the next couple of days, interactions between Dean and Cas consisted of shy glances and lingering touches, of racing hearts and stuttered breaths. They skirted around each other like teenagers crushing on each other. It felt like they were back in high school.

Sam now realized why dean wanted to go to that reunion so badly. His brother was in love.

 

 

The next night, Castiel was unable to sleep. Maybe it was because he was in a new environment and in a bed that wasn’t his—at least, that’s what he told himself. The real reason why he couldn’t sleep was because the love of his life was in the room next to him.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, Cas stood up and walked out of his room, standing in front of Dean’s door. He knocked, and almost immediately Dean opened the door. It was as if he was waiting for Cas.

Dean let him in. He let him in in more ways than one, kissing him senseless and making up for lost time. They moved with each other as effortlessly as ocean waves, like they were meant to map out each other’s bodies, just like this—like they dreamed of, like they deserved.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are appreciated! thank you for taking the time to read this fic :D
> 
> shameless self promotion:
> 
> twitter: slytherin394_  
> tumblr: thescienceofsimplicity  
> instagram: slytherin394


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